


Apart

by BookCat (NintendoNerd125)



Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Broken Families, Broken Friendships, Childhood Friends, Edith needs a hug, Feels, Gen, Loss, Missing Persons, Tons of OCs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-05 12:30:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13387836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NintendoNerd125/pseuds/BookCat
Summary: Edith Sputterspark was used to loss. Her parents, her uncle, the love of her life... However, she never expected that she would also lose her  child.





	1. Chapter 1

Edith Sputterspark was used to loss. When she was only eight years old, her beloved mother Esther perished from tuberculosis, leaving the young rat girl in the sole care of Ebbe, her father.

Ebbe was a chemist. Well, an aspiring one, anyway. Night after night, Edith would sit and watch her father as he set about mixing chemicals and attempting various experiments. Granted, Edith wasn’t the most scientifically-minded person around and, to be honest, she didn’t really even _begin_ to understand what Ebbe was doing or saying half time. She just liked seeing her father work. That is, until the bankers came.

At first, Edith was so confused. She didn’t know why these strange men in suits were there or where they were taking her beloved papa. She didn’t know what on earth Ebbe was talking about when begged them for a more time or claimed that they’ll have their money soon. Not even when more strange men in more suits came for _her._ Her confusion didn’t last long, however.

It turns out that, unless you were famous, being a scientist wasn’t a very profitable job. Ebbe was in heaps of debt when he was a young man and in between Esther’s treatment, Edith’s tuition, and his own experiments, he wound up bankrupt, losing his house, only child, and, as Edith learned years later, his life. 

From there, she was bounced around from family member to family member, each one being unable to support her. That is, until the day it was decreed that she would be sent to her uncle Egon. To America.

\-----------

Life with Uncle Egon was fun, happy even. Egon was a self-proclaimed eternal bachelor and, while he had no kids of his own, he was more than happy to support Edith. Unlike his brother, Egon wasn’t a scientist. He was a baker instead.

Together, they would work together in his kitchen for hours upon hours on end, making cakes, cookies, and all sorts of other baked goods in order to please Egon’s various customers. Edith loved the kitchen. She loved the bakery more, however.

The bakery had a special place in her heart. It was her first true home since Ebbe was taken in by the debt collectors, it was where Edith got her first job.

It was where she met the love of her life.


	2. Chapter 2

Edith first saw Ethan on the first day of high school. He was different compared to the sort of man that girls would usually fall for. He wasn’t tall or strong, nor was he on a sport team. Instead, Ethan was the school genius. Part of the mathletes and the debate club, president of the science club. And, most importantly, so,  _ so _ much like her papa that it made her heart hurt.

Egon loved him too, always saying how much Ethan remembered him of his brother when he was young. By the time Edith graduated, the living room was decorated in photos of the young couple at every dance they attended over the course of their high school careers.

Their courtship extended outside of high school, and then outside of college, and into the adult world. They supported each other through every step, from Egon getting a job at SCU to Edith inheriting the bakery after Egon’s death. And, eventually, they got married and had a child.

 

\------------------------------

Ethan had perished in a car accident shortly after Elmo was born, but he inherited his father’s passion for science and learning. Elmo was a darling child. He was introverted and really only had one friend, a neighbor boy named Drake.

Drake himself was a good kid, as well. He was even more shy than Elmo and had self-esteem issues. And, while he managed to get past them with age, Elmo didn’t.

As such, their dynamic changed as time went on, going from being two introverted kids who had nobody but each other to a meek nerd who had trouble in social situations and his egotistical and loudmouthed best friend. However, if anything, their friendship actually became  _ stronger _ . Drake defended Elmo from bullies at every possible turn and Elmo helped Drake with his academics whenever he needed.

Yes, they were nearly inseparable. That is, until the day where everything changed. The day where, for the first time in ten years, Drake and Elmo didn’t go home together. The day where Elmo didn’t come home at all. The worst day of Edith’s life. The day of their senior prom.


	3. Chapter 3

The day had started out normal enough. Edith got up at 5:50 and woke Elmo up a couple minutes later. They had breakfast, Elmo got ready for school, and then got on the bus.

From there on, the day proceeded as normal. That is, until Drake came home and Elmo didn’t. At first, it didn’t seem like a big deal. The science fair was only a couple days away and Elmo had spent the last couple days staying late at school in order to work on his project. And, while Drake usually stayed with him to help, the day also happened to be the same as their senior prom and Elmo had given Drake his blessing to go home and get ready, saying he’d be fine without him.

If he only he knew how wrong he was.

* * *

The prom ended in chaos. It was attacked by a troubled young man by the name of Megavolt, only to be defended by another young man, one who went by the name of Darkwing Duck. The neighborhood was in a frenzy. Gossip flew around at the speed of light, people swapping theories and concerns of just what happened with one another. What concerned Edith the most, however, was the fact that Elmo wasn’t home yet.

* * *

 The first days of the investigation were a daze, one that Edith barely remembered, even in present day. Drake’s mother Ava was in charge of the investigation and let Edith know of any development. There unfortunately weren’t many of those, however.

The investigation dragged on into weeks, into months, into a year. By the time Drake’s younger siblings were in middle school, Elmo was declared dead.

The next week, an empty casket was buried.

* * *

More change came as the years went by. After over 20 years of service, Ava Mallard finally retired from the force. Drake’s brother Jasper followed in her footsteps, becoming one of SCPD’s youngest detectives.

Dean Mallard, Ava’s husband, opened the magic shop of his dreams and recruited the youngest of the Mallard children, Harriet, to be his assistant. The other Mallard sister, Phoebe, headed to Duckburg and became a reporter for the  _ County Conscience _ .

Drake, however, was an enigma. After the funeral, he moved away to a more urban part of the city and eventually completely disappeared from his family’s radar. Edith never really knew what he did with his life after that. 

Megavolt reappeared and frequently robbed stores as part of his insane quest to liberate electrical appliances. Even aside from him though, new supervillains seemed to pop out of the woodwork every other day. Thankfully, however, Darkwing Duck was always there to save the day.

But still, even after all the years, all the time apart, not knowing what happened to Elmo kept Edith up at night. Everyone said he was dead, but something in Edith, some maternal instinct in her, just  _ knew  _ he wasn’t.  _ Knew _ that her baby boy was out there somewhere, lost and alone with nobody to help him. And so, all she could do was hope. Hope that, wherever he was, Elmo was alright. And hope, that no matter how the odds may seem, that Elmo would find his way home. To her. 


End file.
